Qualifying was dominated by the McLaren-Hondas, a common occurrence in the 1988 season. Alain Prost initially set the fastest time on Friday with a 1:18.179 lap. Ayrton Senna, who had secured the World Championship in Japan, ultimately snatched pole position on his final qualifying lap with a time of 1:17.748, just 0.132 seconds ahead of Prost. Senna's performance was notable given he was nursing a sprained left wrist, an injury sustained during a beach soccer game in Bali. Despite speculation that test driver Emanuele Pirro might replace him, Senna insisted on driving. Prost, in contrast, spent the time between Suzuka and Adelaide playing golf in Queensland.
Nigel Mansell, in his Williams-Judd, qualified third, 1.7 seconds slower than Senna. He was ahead of Gerhard Berger in the Ferrari, who had been the 1987 pole winner. Nelson Piquet, driving a Lotus, qualified fifth, finding some balance on a street circuit he favored despite a couple of spins. Riccardo Patrese, Mansell's teammate, started sixth. Four drivers failed to qualify: Gabriele Tarquini (Coloni), Julian Bailey (Tyrrell), Pierre-Henri Raphanel (Larrousse-Lola), and Bernd Schneider (Zakspeed). Nicola Larini's Osella, powered by an "Osella V8" turbocharged engine, failed to pre-qualify.
Despite turbo-powered cars having approximately 300 bhp less than the previous year, 1988 qualifying and race times were generally faster than in 1987, indicating advancements in development. However, in Adelaide, the reduced power resulted in slower top speeds on the 900-meter Brabham Straight, with speeds dropping from over 320 km/h in 1987 to 300 km/h or less in 1988. Senna's 1988 pole time was 0.481 seconds slower than Berger's 1987 pole time, and Berger himself was 2.25 seconds slower than his 1987 time.
Alain Prost led from the start, followed by Ayrton Senna, Gerhard Berger, Nelson Piquet, and Nigel Mansell. By lap 4, Prost had a 5.5-second lead over Senna. Michele Alboreto's final race for Ferrari ended early due to a collision with Alex Caffi's Dallara.
On lap 5, Berger passed Senna at the Racetrack Hairpin and continued his charge, passing Prost at the same spot on lap 14 to take the lead. Berger built a three-second advantage before encountering Stefano Modena (EuroBrun) and René Arnoux (Ligier) while attempting to lap them on lap 23. Arnoux appeared to ignore blue flags, leading to a collision where Berger's left front wheel rode over Arnoux's right rear, sending both cars spinning. Berger retired with suspension damage, returning Prost to the lead, with Senna in second.
Behind the McLarens, Piquet held third, ahead of the Williams duo of Patrese and Mansell. Patrese closed on Piquet and attempted several passes but spun on lap 53, allowing Mansell to move ahead. Mansell was also unsuccessful in passing Piquet and retired on lap 66 due to brake failure, spinning into a wall. By lap 59, Prost extended his lead to over 30 seconds, lapping the entire field up to Andrea de Cesaris in fifth place.
On lap 46, Pierluigi Martini spun his Minardi at the chicane, nearly collecting Stefan Johansson's Ligier. Maurício Gugelmin slowed his March to avoid them but was hit from behind by Satoru Nakajima's Lotus, forcing both cars out. Prost, the first car to arrive at the scene, ran over debris that broke off part of his front wing end plate, causing understeer for the remainder of the race. However, Prost adjusted his car's onboard settings to compensate and later set the fastest race lap.
Other retirements included Alessandro Nannini (Benetton) due to a spin, Jonathan Palmer (Tyrrell) with transmission problems, and Derek Warwick and Eddie Cheever (Arrows) with engine failures. Driveshaft issues affected the EuroBruns of Modena and Oscar Larrauri, while Caffi retired with clutch failure.
Only eleven cars were classified at the finish, with just seven seeing the checkered flag. Andrea de Cesaris, Stefan Johansson, and Philippe Alliot (Larrousse-Lola) all ran out of fuel in the closing laps, and Philippe Streiff's AGS suffered an electrical failure. Prost secured another McLaren 1–2 finish, with Senna in second. Piquet finished third, and Patrese fourth. De Cesaris's misfortune handed fifth place to Thierry Boutsen (Benetton), despite a spin and a stuttering engine. Ivan Capelli took the final point for sixth in his March, despite a puncture.
All three podium positions were taken by cars powered by Honda turbos in this final race for turbocharged engines until 2014.
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